The site risk walk after award: turn observed conditions into owned questions
The tender drawings show a service laneway beside the proposed excavation. After award, the superintendent finds a fence across it and sees water flowing from a neighbouring parking area toward the site. The risk workshop covered difficult access in general; nobody has established what these particular conditions mean for mobilization.
Use the walk to create located questions the project can resolve before committing its setup. Record what you actually observe, what consequence is possible and what remains unverified. A visible fence does not establish access rights; surface water does not prove an underground condition. Photographs support the record, but they do not certify boundaries, utilities, ground conditions or permission for equipment placement.
Follow a route, then follow the findings
- Prepare an authorized route and current context. Bring the relevant drawings, proposed setup and existing register. Agree who needs to attend and where access is permitted and safe. Include boundaries, neighbouring uses, public movement and the proposed receiving points. Do not enter restricted property or a hazardous area to complete the checklist.
- Describe the condition before interpreting it. Give each observation a location, date and useful photograph or sketch. Write 'fence across the drawn laneway' before 'access unavailable.' Note the source and limits of other information. Separate visible conditions, reported information and your own assumptions, including what could change at peak site activity.
- Turn the observation into a decision question. Connect it to a planned activity and possible consequence. Ask what access, technical review, permission or other information is needed. Assign a person to obtain that answer and a date derived from the affected commitment. An observed overhead line belongs in the question; a visual estimate is not clearance verification.
- Carry the answer into the actual plan. Keep urgent hazards within the site's immediate response arrangements. For other findings, track the evidence, reviewed response and receiving person. Update the register and proposed setup when the answer arrives, retaining unresolved limits. Do not close a risk merely because someone attended the walk or accepted an email.
Common mistakes
- Writing an assumed cause as an observed fact.
- Treating a photograph as permission or certification.
- Leaving a finding without its affected commitment.
- Closing a question when it has only been forwarded.
Checklist
Each walk finding should leave with
- Located observation and evidence limits.
- Possible consequence for a named activity.
- The information or review needed next.
- A responsible owner and meaningful need date.
- A received answer or visible unresolved status.
Check your understanding
A fence crosses the access route shown on the drawings. What belongs in the risk record before changing the delivery plan?
